Cursory Remarks On Freemasoney.-Iii.

scientific members would be more respectable , more usefuland more popular , than if it wore filled with an uncounted number of sots , or even with dull prosaic brothers who are indifferent to the poetry and philosophy of the Order . " The candidate for admission into Masonry may be considered to be in a state of mental darkness respecting our

secret rites , signs , tokens , etc ., and the beautiful system of morality peculiar to thorn . But as lie passes through the ceremony of his initiation , thc scales fall from his eyes , new world of moral grandeur is opened out to . him , and a heavenly light dawns upon his mind . " I have yet many things to say unto yon" said the holJesus to his disciles

, y p , "but ye cannot bear . them now . " Following this high example , our Order speaks to all her children , " as they are able to hear it : " and it is wisely ordered that the whole of our secrets , even in Craft Masonry , shall not be communicated at once , but at intervals of not less than one month between each of the first three degrees , and not even then

unless won by merit . If the neophyte has been fortunate enough to have seen the light in a Locl ge where tho members are good workers , the information which he will receive at his initiation , as an Entered Apprentice , will be quite sufficient for him to " marklearnand inwardly digest" during the short term of

, , his apprenticeship . But , with sorrow we state it , there are Lodges in which Masonry has been so little studied , that hundreds have been indecently pushed on , as it were , through the various degrees without ever hearing a charge , or so much as seeing a tracing board ! And we have known brethren who have been totally unable to answer one test

question , to have the answers dictated to them word for word , us though they were hearing them for the first time . Novf this mode of procedure is alike unfair to the Craft in general , and to the Lodge iu which it is practised in particular ; and as for the brother who is foolishl y imagined to be helped by this undisguised prompting , we can only say that it would

be the truest kindness towards him to teach him all that he is entitled to know in the degree which he has taken , and by no means hurry him on to a higher one until he is a proficient in the first . If he has not the ability to learn under proper teachers , such a man will never mako a Mason , and it was wrong ever even to propose him as a member . If he will not his

use best endeavours to complete his apprenticeship creditably , let him remain a mere Entered Apprentice to the latest moment of his existence . It is thc duty of every Craftsman to instruct , as far as in him lies , the regularly Entered Apprentice in all the secrets of the first degree ; but whoever passes to the degree of a Fellow Craft one who cannot prove himself a duly Entered Apprentice , is not fit to govern a Lodge . The natural consequence of this most slovenly mode of working is , that the members of such

Lodges never understand Freemasonry at all ; for them the furniture and ornaments of the Lodgo room have no hi « h symbolic teachings ; aud , were it not for a commendable desire to emulate other Lodges in their adornments , thc gewgaws from the nearest fancy bazaar , so that they were ¦ fhowy enough , would answer all needful purposes for them . What wonder that

such unworth y members should dispense altogether with that ancient badge of innocence—the white lambskin apron—and substitute in its place others of satin , or of cotton plucked by fingers of slaves ! If it bo wrong to pass a , brother to thc second -decree before he has merited such promotion , it must be at least

equally unmasonic to raise him to tho sublime degree of Master Mason until he has proved himself a skilful craftsman . Such proceedings arc inimical with tho well working of any Lodge , arid the AVorshi pful Master who allows them is unfaithful to his obligation . If due care were taken in all our Lodges , as we rejoice to know it is in many , to have the Entered Apprentices properly taught the first degree before they are passed , and then well instructed in the second before they are raised to

Cursory Remarks On Freemasoney.-Iii.

the third , we should not meet with so many nominal Masons , but with a much greater number of real brethren , —men who had learnt to rein their passions , to jireservc sound minds in sound bodies , to be not only familiar with our symbols , but to read them ari ght . Wot only would the brethren be gainers individually by this

healthy discipline , but the Lodges would be better officered . It is painful to a true Mason to enter a Lodge where our beautiful ritual is mangled , as is sometimes the case , in a manner which might possibly pass muster amongst " Grigs , " "Bucks , " "Knights ofthe Moon , " and " Antediluvian Buffaloes , " but is certainly not to be tolerated amongst Masons .

We would not only have each officer perfect in his part , so as to need no correction during the ceremonies , but also to be easy in his manner of working , and yet earnest withal . Let every Worshi pful Master insist on all signs being given correctly in his Lodge , for if old members give them slovenly , how can young members be expected to learn them arig ht %

Infirmity of course we would bear with , whether resulting from illness or old age ; but for indolence there is no excuse in any man , especially in a Mason—for we look for him to be a man above the vulgar herd , who " In the catalogue do go for men ; As hounds , and greyhounds , mongrels , spaniels , curs ,

iShoughs , water-rugs , and demi-wolves are clcp ' tl All by the name of dogs . " That many of our Lodges are conducted in a manner which the most ardent lover of the Craft could not find fault with , we freely allow ; but why should not all our Lodges be models each to thc other ? Even as a mere plaything , Freemasonry

would be worth retaining in all its entirety ; and to the man of mind wo all know it is much more . Perhaps never was there a time when so many of our brethren studied the workings of speculative Masonry as now ; but then it must also be . borne in mind that our Order was never so numerous and

so popular as it is at present . Ono is almost tempted at times to wish for a good blast of persecution just to winnow the chaff from the corn . What a pleasure it is to visit a Loclge in which all the brethren have Masonry at heart ; where the humblest office iu thc Lodge is regarded as a post of honour , and the assistant

offices aro the gates which lead to the pedestals . But how ridiculous it is to sec members who cannot work wearing tho collars and jewels of Deacons , and some Past Master of thc Lodge obliged to officiate for them ; to find AVardens who bungle every sentence they utter , and a Master so un worshipful as to need prompting by the Director of Ceremonies in opening and closing-each degree . What then shall be said of Past Masters who cannot render the least assistance in

initiating , passing , or raising , and who cannot work any one of the pedestals in the Lodge ? Does the reader answer "This is not the case in our Lodge "—may the day never como in which tens of thousands cannot say the same . That it is the case in any of our Lodges is pitiable enough , and it is to prevent the evil from spreading further that ive now direct attention thereto . It would be too much to ask that every

Master of a Lodge at his installation shall bo able to confer all the three degrees , and to give thc charges , with the full explanation ofthe tracing boards . But if he has to be beholden to others to officiate for him in initiations , passings , or raisings , durin g his term of oflice , we do consider that ho is in honour bound to perfect himself in these matters after

he has passed the chair , so that he in like manner may assist others . This , wc are well aware , involves labour ; but , as Shakspeare tells us , "Thc labour we delight in , physics jiain . " Never was any groat good accomplished in the world without labour . Those wonderful structures which were

erected by our ancient brethren before the divorce of operative and speculative Masonry , think you , reader , that they were built without labour of body and labour of mind ? And shall we , their puny descendants , begrudge a little time and healthy mental exercise to gain that which , in making us